A Heart Finds It's Purpose
by StarlightNinjaThief
Summary: Ray Barnett left Chicago five years ago, his dream of being a doc on hold. He's back but things are a bit different. He never said why until this day, but now people will know his secret. How will they react?
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: Cheesy Title but oh well. SPOILERS for the episode Nobody's Baby. The truck accident still happened but it will have an AU twist.**_

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><p>He stood in front of the glass double doors of County General Hospital, psyching himself up to go inside. No one knew he was back and luckily he hadn't been spotted in the ambulance bay. Heck, he didn't even know if any of the older doctors still worked here; all had been residents or chiefs when he left that fateful night five years ago.<p>

The weight on his hip squirmed and his reason for leaving brought him from his thoughts. Shifting it and then looking to his left, he took a deep breath.

"You ready for this?" a woman asked the man.

"We should tell them," he nodded. Because no matter what happened all those years ago, the people in this hospital meant something to him, made him realize he wasn't just skating by in life - quite literally. "Ok, let's do this."

And with that, Ray Barnett walked into the place he had been a med student and started his residency in Chicago.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Sorry it's so short but I thought I'd give you all a good intro, see if you're hooked before I continue.<br>**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: As I said before, keep the episode Nobody's Baby in mind. The truck accident still happened but it will have an AU twist that you'll see because I didn't like Ray being so severely hurt. Also, he will mention leaving Chicago 5 years ago, that was during season 12. Things will Neela didn't exist.**_

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><p>As they made it just inside the doors, the bundle in Ray's arms started to squirm and whimper, the bright lights and loud sounds of the waiting room unsettling. "Ok, ok, shhh...," he soothed. Looking at the woman next to him he tilted his head. "You want to take him and I'll meet you in the lounge?"<p>

"Sure. C'mon big guy, it's alright." She walked down the hall murmuring nonsense words and the cries faded from Ray's ears. Another deep breath had him heading for the Admin desk.

"Whoa, Ray Barnett! Long time no see, dude," Jerry greeted the former ER resident.

The young man chuckled. "Yeah, it's been about five years." He smiled towards the staff room down the hall before back to the clerk. "Hey, um, could you gather everyone up - or who's still around here - and have them meet me in the break room?"

"Sure, no problem, Ray," Jerry laugh. "Good to see you again."

"You too, buddy!"

About 20 minutes later, the doctor leaned against the doorjam to the lounge. Smiling lightly as he looked in on the rooms two occupants waiting for everyone's arrival.

"Ray!" he heard the accent that belonged to Luka as he, Abby, Carter, Rachel and Susan ran up to him. They traded hugs, handshakes and Rachel just waved shyly since she didn't really know him well. She'd only heard stories of the wild Doc Rock.

"Hi, you guys; it's good to be back."

"So, it's great to see you again but we don't have a lot of time," Carter replied knowing how busy the ER is.

"Yeah, did you need something to call us all down here?" Abby asked.

And now the calm, cool Barnett was nervous! "Heh - uh, yeah, sorry about that. But there's someone you guys need to meet." With that, he opened the door and was met with the small weight flying at him; brown hair pressing into his leg.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy," the voice chanted a bit muffled.

Gasps came from the others as they stepped into the room and took up seats. _Ray had a kid?_

"It's ok, kiddo, I'm back. Did you have fun with mommy while you waited?"

"Mommy?" several of the adults murmured and looked towards the woman.

"Hey, guys," she greeted with a smile. She looked to Ray. "He did fine, found his favorite train and he seemed to relax."

"Good." He smiled down at his 5-year old son before picking him up and sitting on one of the couches next to his girlfriend. "Everyone, meet my son Tyler Landon Barnett. Ty, these are old friends of mommy and daddy's. Can you say hi?"

The shy little boy who was trying to hide in his father's coat twitched a tiny hand.

"Don't worry, he'll get used to you all. Just give him some time," the woman next to them said. _Katey Alvaro; no one saw that coming._

"Wow, Katey, it's great to see you. I didn't know you and Ray were back together," Susan put in.

"Yep," she giggled. "Since Tyler was about a year old. Ray had been living back in Baton Rouge and we ran into each other at work."

"And you fell for his rebel ways?" Abby teased.

"Oh boy I'll never live this down," he groaned. Setting Tyler back on the floor, the child began playing with his toys again, only now rocking slightly and making quiet noises.

"You could say that," Katey answered. "But he's a really good guy and a good dad."

Ray leaned in and kissed her quickly.

"When did you guys get pregnant?" Carter asked.

Both parents blushed at this. "Um well, we didn't not yet. I adopted Tyler when he was a baby and Katey and I started dating a year or so later."

"Is that why you left residency?" Luka then questioned.

"Yeah." The young man turned green eyes to his son's and nudged his girlfriend slightly. She knew he wanted to tell them but not where the boy would get confused so she picked up a toy train and distracted the child. They were the only parents Tyler had ever known; and even at that he was still getting used to Katey, his bond strongest with Ray.

"Remember that girl that came in when I worked in the ER? Surrogate mother in pre-term labor, baby had been in distress?" he told the group, heart tightening at the thought of that fateful night. "It was Cobourn's case but I was monitoring it and was trying to get consent for the C-section."

That was when realization dawned on the group.

_Clair was a surrogate for Toni and Rod. They were going to name the baby David but his brain had been deprived of oxygen and they decided they didn't want him. Sadly neither did Clair. So Ray had spent all night in the NICU, watching over him so he wouldn't be alone._

_Miraculously a few weeks later, the preemie was starting to breath on his own. His muscle tone was still low but he was responding a bit so they were taking that as a good sign. But since both parental parties had given up rights, the infant was to become a ward of the state._

"I put in the papers to adopt him and when they went through, I named him Tyler. We moved to Baton Rouge when I noticed he'd need more care than I could give on the hours I worked on as a resident."

"That's where you kept going on your breaks for those few months. Up to pediatrics to see him," Abby pieced together.

Ray nodded. "When I - a few months after we moved closer to my mom, I broke my legs..."

"We heard that," Carter supplied. "Crush injuries sounded bad," he whispered as not to startle the boy in front of them.

"Yeah, it was pretty touch and go."

"Somehow I ended up working at the rehab where Ray was transferred to. In my time off I helped Caroline with little Ty until Ray's casts came off." She squeezed her boyfriend's hand when he became uncomfortable with talk of the accident.

"So," Rachel cleared her throat. The young doctor almost forgot she was there. "Is that sign he's doing?" Motioning to something Tyler was telling Katey.

"Yeah, he's not very vocal most of the time so that's what we taught him." He went on to say that with the motor skill issues, their son was also diagnosed with autism.

"Well, a few of us have to head back upstairs," Luka lamented. "It was nice seeing you again Ray, Katey."

"You too," he smiled at the older man. He'd always found an ally in him.

"And nice to meet you, little guy," Carter spoke gently to Tyler.

"Can you say bye?" Katey asked, hand hovering over his but not touching, as a way of getting his attention.

But all that was shown was a grunt and the zooming of his train.

They all chuckled. He seemed like a well behaved kid.

"Are you coming back here to work?" Jerry asked as everyone filed out.

"Ah, we don't know yet. It'd be a big move for all of us and we have to see how Tyler's gonna adjust first," Katey answered.

"Ready to go home?" Ray asked his small family.

And it was then that the child in his arms looked up, eyes sliding somewhere to their left, and he beamed. "Gam and Grap?" he asked in his way of indicating back home with Ray's parents.

"No, not with them just yet, dude."

"We're staying here for a few days, remember?" Katey tickled him lightly. "Don't you want to ride the big trains?"

_Train!_ he signed happily.

They laughed and headed towards the double doors once again. Coming here, facing everyone once again hadn't been so bad Ray thought. Maybe it'd become their home again. After all this was where his son had been born and where he met the woman he loved. Wrapping one arm around Katey and the other around Tyler, Ray Barnett sighed contentedly.

"Don't be a stranger," Carter called out, smiling as they made their departure. He was proud of the man the young rocker had become.

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><p><em><strong>AN: I know not alot of people haven't gotten into this but the idea wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. I hope it's not too ooc but Ray staying with that baby has always been on my mind and I wanted to expand on the episode. The idea of adopting him and caring for his needs only came recently. I hope ya'll enjoy.<br>**_


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